Hi friends, and welcome back to Talmud Daily, our 40-week tour of the entire Talmud. And today we are discussing Tractate Yoma, and specifically we’re going to talk a little bit about the history. Not the history of Yom Kippur, but the ultimate history, which is what exactly was the avodah, the service of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. This is something that a lot of people know a little bit about, but it’s very hard to actually go step-by-step. What exactly was this service?
Now this emerges from the first seven chapters of Yoma, but we’re going to kind of order it and simplify it just to kind of take you through.
Now on Yom Kippur itself, like in our lives, in our local synagogues, there are two liturgical poems, what’s known as a piyut. A piyut were like poems that later commentaries and rabbis would write that were full of poetry, but also classical Torah ideas. And if you’ve ever wondered why the services on Yom Kippur are so long, a lot of it has to do with our repetition and going through step-by-step the entire service of the Kohen Gadol.
Now there are two major classical liturgical poems. I hate that term.I’m going to use the term piyutim. Liturgical just sounds… It’s a downer of a word, I can’t explain it. But there are two different poems that we read. Ashkenazim read a poem called Ometz Koach. This is a much later poem that was most likely written by someone named Reb Meshullam ben Kalonymus, probably in the 9th or 10th century. So a little bit before the time of Rambam and Rashi, what we refer to as the Geonic period, after the canonization of the Talmud, before the commentators known as the Rishonim really stepped in. That’s probably when this emerged.
It happens to be that Sephardimread a different poem that takes you through, and that is called Atah Konanta. I’m using the first words of the poem. So Ometz Koach are the first words that literally means, “O strong”, and Atah Konanta I think means, “You have sanctified, You have designated.”
Now it happens to be that the Sephardic piyut is much more accurate and was likely written far earlier than Ometz Koach. It may have even been written by either one of the rabbis of the Gemara, or perhaps even one of the rabbis of the Mishnah. There’s a lot of speculation, but we don’t have a definitive answer. But both of these more or less take you through the service of the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest on Yom Kippur, which is the central focus of Tractate Yoma. So here’s what you need to know.
Seven days before Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol would be separated from his family and actually kept in a room that was adjacent within the temple itself, called Lishkas Farhedrin, the Chamber of Farhedrin. And he would stay there for seven days. The opening dispute in Tractate Yoma is what is the significance of these seven days? It is a dispute between Reb Yochanan and Reish Lakish, two figures who we will surely come back to, major figures of the Talmud. Rebbe Yochanan says that these seven days are modeled after the seven days from the first inauguration of the Mishkan—what we spoke about in our first episode on Tractate Yoma. That when they actually erected the Mishkan following the sin of the golden calf, following that first Yom Kippur where God forgives Moses and the Jewish people, and gives him the second set of tablets, leading up to the actual opening day of the Mishkan, which was on the first day of Nissan, there were seven days where Aharon and his children were kind of separated, and the actual service in the Mishkan during those days was performed by Moshe Rabbeinu himself, the great Moses, our teacher. But those seven days Aharon was separated. That’s one opinion.
Reish Lakish says those seven days correspond to the seven days where Moshe himself, before going up to Sinai, had to separate himself before having a confrontation with God.
We kind of instinctively understand how both of these relate to the Yom Kippur experience. One is we learn about the actual service of the Kohen Gadol in Acharei Mos, that’s right after this period of establishing the Tabernacle and the Mishkan. The other one is really about Moses’ ascent to Sinai and the seven days he spent separate, and we understand why that might be the model. Because that was kind of what initiated the first Yom Kippur, and ultimately God’s forgiveness and the second set of tablets that He gave on the 10th of Tishrei, which is our Yom Kippur.
So after being separated for seven days, the Kohen Gadol would be taken out and would have to swear in front of the elders of the community that he would do the service properly. There were people known as Karaites, or people who had a more literal reading of the Torah, [who] did not accept rabbinic tradition, and they would do the service totally separately, and nobody could really stop them, because a lot of the service, especially what’s done inside the Holy of Holies, nobody else sees.
So before the actual service he would have to swear, the Kohen Gadol, is going to do this service properly. And then afterwards, in a very moving way, they would say everybody would turn away and start crying. That how has it come to this that we can’t even fully trust the Kohen Gadol. And the Mishnah writes it: everybody would start to cry. It was very painful. There were a lot of stakes and consequences. They wanted forgiveness for the Jewish people, and they still had to be nervous.
Now, on the day of Yom Kippur itself, there are a few very important things to know. I’m going to say all three right up front and then we’re going to go through the specifics.
Number one: there are two types of uniforms that a Kohen Gadol would wear. One is a uniform of eight garments. That included famously, if you’ve ever seen a picture of the Kohen Gadol, the Urim ve-Tumim. That was the breastplate that had 12 stones corresponding to the 12 tribes. It had gold on it. It was very fancy. Had a fancy hat, fancy clothes, gold embroidery. That was the eight-garment uniform of the Kohen Gadol. That’s what he wore every other day. And on Yom Kippur there was a special stripped-down, simplified four-garment uniform of the Kohen Gadol that was much simpler and all white. It was almost what a regular Kohen Gadol would wear every other day. I think this was like a special uniform specifically for Yom Kippur. Now, on the day itself, some of the service is done wearing the eight garments and some of the service is done wearing four garments. That’s introduction number one.
Introduction number two: the Kohen Gadol goes to the mikvah five times, and these are the five kind of breaks throughout the day. There was a mikvah within the Temple, and that’s where the Kohen Gadol would get undressed, go to the mikvah, and anytime there’s a uniform change, before changing uniforms, the Kohen Gadol would go to the mikvah. And a total of five times throughout the day, the Kohen Gadol would immerse in the mikvah.
And finally, when it comes to the Holy of Holies: the ultimate service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur was entering the Holy of Holies, the Kohen Gadol would do this a total of four times.
So there are two uniforms, one eight garments, one four garments, and he toggles in between the two. When the Kohen Gadol is doing things on Yom Kippur that are really done every day, but it’s special today because everything was done just by the Kohen Gadol, he would wear the eight garment. When it’s something specific to Yom Kippur, he would wear the four garment, the more simple white one.
Number two:go to the mikvah five times. Anytime there’s an outfit change, the Kohen Gadol would go to the mikvah. And we’re going to count four times that the Kohen Gadol enters into the Holy of Holies.
This is how the basic day went. There’s a great overview in the Yom Kippur machzor of Rabbi Soloveitchik, published by Kahal Publishing. I think you could still find this. It’s really excellent. Rabbi Soloveitchik was really enamored with the service of Yom Kippur, and this appears on page 588 in that machzor, and it’s right at the beginning of Ametz Ko’ach, as we said, which is the Ashkenazi piyut that details the service, even though the Sephardic one, to be honest, is far more accurate and older.
So, separated for seven days, now there’s crying, swears, and now the service of Yom Kippur itself. The first time he would go to the mikvah, he would come out, he would put on the eight garments, and most of this service are really the services that they would do every single day. He would wash his hands and feet, and he would offer the daily Tamid sacrifice that was brought every single day. Normally it would be brought by a regular kohen. On Yom Kippur, the only one who does the service is the Kohen Gadol. And he would bring the daily morning Tamid sacrifice, he would light the menorah, he would offer a bull and seven sheep for Mussaf—there’s going to be more—then he would wash his hands and feet and then go to the mikvah a second time.
Now, this second immersion is much more Yom Kippur-focused. That first immersion he’s wearing the eight garments and he was doing mostly, think about it. The Korban Tamid—that’s brought every day, Lighting the menorah—that’s done all the time. So that’s why he’s wearing eight garments. Now, the second time he goes to the mikvah, he comes out and he wears four garments, all white, much more stripped-down, much more simple. What does he do? He obviously washes his hands and feet, and then he first does a personal confession over the bull offered as a sin offering.
This is his personal confession. First he has to do his own personal teshuva, which starts with him, then expands to his family, and then, only afterwards, can he be the emissary, the shaliach, the agent—shaliach is a Hebrew word—the agent on behalf of the Jewish people to get forgiveness from God for all of Klal Yisrael, for the Jewish people themselves.
So after the second immersion, he washes his hands and feet. He first says a personal confession over that bull, and then they do the lottery for the two goats. They bring in these two goats and he picks out from the—there are two plates. One of them says la-Hashem, one of them says la-Azazel. So one goat is going to get its blood sprinkled inside the Holy of Holies, the other one is the scapegoat that’s getting pushed off a cliff. He does the lottery, and then he recites another confession for the other kohanim. It keeps on expanding over that very same bull, and then they slaughter the bull. Then they gather the coals from the inner altar, and now we’re getting ready for the first time the kohen enters into the Holy of Holies.
He already did the lottery for the two goats, and this time he scoops a palmful of incense with a spoon. And this was actually one of the hardest things because he has to bring a spoon and hold it very carefully and bring it into the Holy of Holies, not dropping anything. He brings the incense and coals into the Holy of Holies. Then the second time is he sprinkles the blood of the bull in the Holy of Holies.
So that’s two times he’s entered into the Holy of Holies. The first time is he’s bringing that incense. He lights it only once he’s inside, not beforehand. That’s what the rebels used to do. They would light it beforehand, then he would come into the Holy of Holies for the first time and there would already be smoke billowing. Our tradition is he would actually light it and the smoke would only billow and appear once he’s inside the Holy of Holies. Then he would sprinkle the blood of the bull in the Holy of Holies. That’s like very personal. Then he would slaughter the goat, that’s the goat that you give to God. The other one is being taken by the ish iti, by the man of time, and being pushed off a cliff. That’s all happening outside of the Temple. But the one that stays, the one that’s for God, he then enters a third time and sprinkles that blood in the Holy of Holies.
So first is the incense, the ketores, that’s what it’s called, the incense. Then is the bull, and then is the se’ir la-Hashem, the goat, those twin goats, the one that actually gets sacrificed. Then he sprinkles the combined blood of the bull and the goat on the curtain that separates between the Holy of Holies and the rest of the Temple. There are a lot of details here: how he sprinkles, once the sprinkling. A lot of this we say out. I want to keep it very, very simple. This is all the second immersion.
He recites a confession over the second goat, the scapegoat, this is after he comes out, and then they send the goat into the desert to be pushed off a cliff. And then when they know that the goat has finally been pushed off a cliff, then the Kohen Gadol reads from the Torah, which we still do now, publicly, washes his hands and feet, and then what happens? Immersion number three. He’s changing out of his four garments that are special for Yom Kippur and back into the eight garments that are everyday garments. And what is he doing now after this third immersion? He offers the ram of Mussaf, right, a Mussaf sacrifice. Then he burns the innards of the goat and the bull. He offers that sacrifice. Then finally he offers the afternoon Tamid sacrifice. That is what bookends every day, more or less—really Pesach is the only exception—the first korban brought is the Korban Tamid. The last korban brought, also a Korban Tamid. It would bookend the entire day. So then he brings the Korban Tamid, and then washes his hands and feet, and then we do immersion number four.
Now this is the one that is the strangest, the one that people forget. What is he immersing in for? He’s obviously changing back into the four garments. This is the fourth and final time he enters into the Holy of Holies. But what’s he doing this time in the Holy of Holies? He’s not offering anything. He’s actually bringing something out. If you remember, the first time the Kohen Gadol goes into the Holy of Holies, it’s for the incense. The second time is for the bull, that personal bull that he confessed over. The third time is to sprinkle the blood of the se’ir la-Hashem, the goat that is the one that’s actually sacrificed, but not the scapegoat.
The fourth time, what is he doing? It connects back to the first time. The first time he brought in with a spoon and a little plate the actual incense. He leaves that in the Holy of Holies. When does he retrieve that spoon? That’s why he goes into the mikveh this fourth time. He actually dons white, goes to the mikveh, and wears his special Yom Kippur clothes. The only thing that the Kohen Gadol is doing is retrieving that spoon and that little plate from inside the Holy of Holies.
Why not take it out the first time? Like he actually goes to the mikveh, change, just to take it out? This is I think something very profound, very mystical. It’s something I want you to think about. Why would the kohen literally go to the mikveh, change his clothes? What’s he doing? He’s not offering anything, he’s actually bringing something out of the Holy of Holies.
This is about the significance of the incense. This is really about on Yom Kippur we don’t just want to bring and offer things into the Holy of Holies. Part of the way that we bring the Holy of Holies into our everyday life is we actually take out this spoon, and it’s like a very mundane activity. There’s no sacrifice, there’s no sprinkling, there’s no incense. He’s just taking it out. This is the way that we bring that intimacy into our everyday life: when we do something very mundane, very natural, but with a lot of focus and a lot of intention. This also is a part of the avodah of Yom Kippur.
When he finishes and gets the spoon out, he does the final fifth immersion, puts on now the eight garments for the final time, and then he offers the evening incense, he lights the menorah, washes his hands and feet, and now he can don finally his own clothes. The Yom Kippur service is finally complete.
And this was the service of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. And I’ll just read one line from a work called the Sod Yesharim, which was written by Rav Gershon Henoch Leiner. [He] happens to be a friend of Rav Tzadok. That’s for a different time.
But he says something very amazing, that the Kohen Gadol was representative of the entirety of the Jewish people. It was the entire nation really being personified by one person, the ultimate unity. And he says one final line, this is in the Sod Yesharim on Yom Kippur, paragraph number 46. And he says something that I think is so moving and what really the service of Yom Kippur was all about. Im kol zeh, with all of this, hatza’akah, the cries, me’omek levavam shel Yisroel, that emerge from the hearts of Jews around the world, hayah nichnas im haKohen Gadol, the Kohen Gadol would bring the cries and the tears and the pain of the entirety of the Jewish people, gam lifnei lifnai velifnim.
That’s ultimately what he was bringing inside the Holy of Holies. The Kohen Gadol as the representative of the Jewish people on Yom Kippur would really metaphorically, conceptually collect all of the tears, all of the pain, all of the struggle of the Jewish people, all of the cries, and bring it with him as the representative to beseech God and ask for forgiveness.
This is the incredible and sublime avodah of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. The service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur. The holiest day of the year in the holiest place in the world, performed by the holiest, most significant Jew, the representative of the Jewish people.
Hope you enjoyed, and let’s together keep making Torah sweet.